Cultivating Our Comforts
by BellatrixLestrangey
Summary: Azula ship challenge - week 5; TyLee learns to spin silk and gifts Azula with silky blankets in an attempt to comfort her and help her heal.


Some time ago TyLee had taken an interest in silk in cultivating it and in sewing it. She dazzled Azula with her knowledge of caring for silkworms and how to best keep them producing the fiber, how to properly boil a cocoon and how best to extract the silk fibers from it. Azula didn't care much for the process itself—the thought of having to play with worms was off putting as far as she was concerned. But watching her loosen the fibers and wind them around the wheel was a different matter. Seeing her hands work diligently and carefully to remove any debris; Azula apricated the tediousness and attention she put into her work. She hardly ever saw TyLee so serious about anything.

Azula had come to discover TyLee's secret talent a few months back. She was in a poor and pitiful state of mind, feeling meek and tired. The girl had come to her with a fold of cloth in her arms. She draped fine silk over Azula's shoulders and told her that things would be alright. Not that Azula believed her nor wanted to believe her. At that time TyLee was still the girl who'd stabbed her in the back. TyLee sat beside her for a few minutes adjusting the silk until Azula's lack of conversation prompted her to leave. But she would always come back, and with a new blanket of silk. The first one must have been a tester as it was only a sheet of bright red. The second one was of the same color but had threads of gold in the shape of fire curling all over the sheet. She removed the first blanket only to replace it with the second, wrapping it around Azula with a sort of care as she asked question after question about what Azula was feeling. The third one looked like the second but with the colors reversed. This time she asked if she could get Azula anything to eat or drink only to be waved off. She crafted a fourth blanket with a golden depiction of the palace garden. Azula noted how much time that one must have taken. She almost answered TyLee's inquiries; but she wasn't satisfied. She wanted TyLee to feel in full, what it was to be hated. The fifth time she came around, TyLee was holding a silk cloth of a deep blue. This one was a bit simpler; apparently weaving blue silk was somehow different than gold and red. Whatever the reason, she smoothed her gift around Azula's body and then pulled her into a quite hug. That time she didn't try for conversation. She just handed Azula her silk and went on her way. The sixth and seventh times went much the same. Her eighth attempt was a stunning piece. It was still of midnight blue. But this time with swirling flames of neon blue. Azula didn't even realize that dye could show that brilliantly. She'd never seen such a vivid color, save for when she was bending. And perhaps that was the point, because that's what the cloth depicted. A dragon wielding a blue flame like her own. The dragon spanned the length of the blanket and it's flame just as much.

That time she took TyLee by the hand before she could leave. She didn't say anything, she didn't have much to say. But she let TyLee stay, listening to her talk about how she made the blankets and how much she enjoyed doing so. She invited Azula to leave her bedroom and join her, she hoped for some company and wanted to show Azula how it was done.

Azula had spun silk only once. That was when she was on the brink of falling apart. Despite the company, she had sunken well into her despair. The feeling that she would amount to nothing at all, had finally taken its toll. "You're good at a lot of things." TyLee reminded her only for Azula to dismiss the notion. "I bet you'd be good at this too, it takes a lot of time and a very elegant hand. It takes skill."

She took the bait and let TyLee show her how to boil the cocoons. It had given her something to do, something to focus on. She wasn't able to produce a blanket as fast as TyLee but she didn't mind, she had every intention of prolonging this distraction. In due time she had crafted a fine white blanket. TyLee noted with pride that white was a hard silk to produce—at least for her. It had taken a good week and a half, so Azula was reluctant to let her work go. But TyLee seemed to love the cherry blossom design and the little petals Azula had sewn in, so she gave the girl her hard work.

From there TyLee stopped making blankets and on Azula's birthday would bestow upon her, a luxurious silk robe and a matching pair of slippers. They were comfortable and went nice with her assortment of blankets and pillow cases. The girl didn't ask for anything in return so long as Azula promised to forgive her and provide her with company as she spun her silk. At first it was boring and Azula admitted to dozing off. But it was relaxing and she had come to apricate the time spent—even if they didn't speak to each other—TyLee to focused on her work, and Azula on her thoughts or on a book.

More than anything Azula apricated those evenings wrapped in silk, staring at a sunset, and listening to the wooden creaks as TyLee spun the fibers.


End file.
